Officials will ask owner to remove boats; may confiscate if they remain on city property
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
What has been a longstanding practice of fishermen storing their boats near the public access area for Rockland Lake – or any other body of water for that matter – in Burlington will come to an end soon.
The City Council on a unanimous vote Tuesday approved a new ordinance that will prohibit people from leaving their boats unattended on city property.
However, according to City Administrator Carina Walters, the goal is to educate boat owners first before relying on the ordinance to confiscate boats that have been left behind.
“We’ll do our best to educate before we take further steps,” Walters said.
But, because many of the boats left at Rockland Lake have expired registrations or no registration visible, it may be difficult for city officials to track down owners.
A visit to the area – just off Durand Avenue and adjacent to McCanna Park – on Tuesday revealed 19 boats left at the site. Many of them appeared old and weathered, as if they had been there for years.
“That’s something I’ve heard from staff – that they’ve been there forever,” Walters said.
The new ordinance prohibits the abandonment of any boats on city park property. Boats left unattended for 24 hours will be considered abandoned.
At that point, the city is allowed to confiscate the boat and store it for at least 30 days. During that period, according to the ordinance, police will attempt to locate the owner. Upon notification, owners will have 72 hours to retrieve the boat upon payment of a “reasonable” fee to compensate the city for removal of the boat.
Boats of owners who don’t respond or can’t be found can be sold by the city after a period of 30 days to recover the cost of removal and storage, according to the ordinance.
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